Dawn of the Red King
by LugiaTsuyu
Summary: The Red King finally meets his match. "You broke my friend's heart. And now, as a revenge, she wants to break yours by sending me in to seduce you." She looked at him right in the eyes. "I'm not trying to be rude, but that will never happen." Instead of being insulted like he had expected, the girl gave him a bright smile and two thumbs up. "That's why my plan will work great!"
1. Prologue

**Title:** Dawn of the Red King  
**Genre:** Romance, Humor, (a bit) Drama.  
**Pairings: **Akashi Seijuurou x OC  
**Summary:  
**- The Red King finally meets his match.  
"You broke my friend's heart. And now, as a revenge, she wants to break yours by sending me in to seduce you." She looked at him right in the eyes. "I'm not trying to be rude, but that will never happen." Instead of being insulted like he had expected, the girl gave him a bright smile and two thumbs up. "That's why _my_ plan will work great!"

**Warnings:  
**1) Hi, Nice to meet you all. I'm LugiaTsuyu. I was from Thailand. So English is not my first language. That's why you will probably find a lot of grammar mistakes and not so smooth writing (such as repeated words and so on). And any comments, criticisms, corrections, and suggestions are greatly appreciated.  
2) I am writing this as I go, so yeah. LOL  
3) Also, you will probably find a lot of OOCness and mistakes because I don't really know much about basketball rules yet and am not really sure how high school in Japan works (especially an elite school like Rakuzan LOL), so I will apologize about that in advance. Please bear with me and I hope you will like my story. (Even though I am turning a sport shounen manga/anime into a romantic comedy shoujo one.)**  
**

**Disclaimers:** I do not own Kuroko no Basket, just my original character(s), as it belongs to Fujimaki Tadatoshi-sensei.

**Credit to:** Fujimaki Tadatoshi-sensei.

~o~

* * *

~o~

**Dawn of the Red King  
Prologue**

~o~

_King_.

It was the first word that popped into her head the instant she'd laid eyes on him for the first time.

Asahi stood among the rows and columns lined by the first-years of Rakuzan High. Only a moment before, as to be expected on the first day of school and of the ever-dragging opening ceremony, many students had been openly expressing their boredom in the only way the teachers could not fault or punish them for it—by actively yawning.

But all that had changed when the name of the first-year's representative, the one who had gotten the highest score on the entrance exam, was announced.

Akashi Seijuurou.

The former captain of Teiko basketball team and the legendary leader of the Generation of Miracles.

She'd never really believed in how one's presence could affect the air in the room…until a certain boy with flaming red hair stepped onto the auditorium's stage and in front of the podium.

Then the quiet room suddenly erupted into waves of intangible murmurs. Yawns completely disappeared, only to be replaced by the uproar of excitements and fascinations—the latter was also delivered with barely-maintained girly squeals that had her wishing this Akashi guy some luck if he ever wanted to have a peaceful high school life, 'cause it'd never happen.

But she could understand the other girls' feelings a bit. Probably. The guy sure was not bad for the eyes. She was close to the stage enough to be able to notice couple of things. Other than his conspicuous hair, his bi-colored eyes, one crimson red and another golden hazel, were very intriguing to those who dared to look right into them. His face was strong, but not too hard or edgy—passive was more like it. His every movement, every gesture, showed confidence, intelligence, if not a bit of arrogance. And his entire being? It screamed power.

"—have a good year." Akashi Seijuurou finished his speech—darn, she hadn't been listening at all—took off without any hesitation, and vanished behind the velvet curtain.

When the ceremony was coming to an end, someone tapped her lightly on her back as a female voice said, "Asahi-chan."

The auditorium's doors opened and the students slowly made their ways toward the exits. Asahi followed the flow. "Yeah, Karen-chan?"

Her—kind of—friend from middle school, Hatsuki Karen, a petite beauty with long, curly almond-colored hair didn't reply until both of them were outside. "I think I, um, I…" Her pretty face turned bright red. "I think I just fell in love with Akashi-kun."

Asahi stared blankly at her friend, the only viable thought in her mind was: _I wholeheartedly wish you tons of good luck, Akashi Seijuurou. You are going to need it._

It was a month later that she truly wished she'd saved those luck for herself. She was actually going to need it more than him. A _lot_ more. Because the recently broken-hearted Hatsuki Karen had managed to coerce her—though she was pretty sure she had been threatened—to do the impossible as a revenge.

To break Akashi Seijuurou's empty heart.

~o~

* * *

~o~

**Author's Note: **Hi guys! This is my first Kuroko no Basket fanfiction. I know the prologue and the summary suck, but I still hope you guys will like my story as it progresses. Also, as I mentioned in the beginning, I'm kinda really bad with grammar and vocabulary, so I'm really sorry about that. If you guys noticed any mistakes, language-wise or plot-wise, don't hesitate to tell me, I'd really appreciate it.

Another thing I have to apologize is the possible (probably inevitable) OOCness. Akashi is pretty self-explanatory because he's got two different sides of him it's kind of hard to grasp which is which, and the three Uncrowned Kings (Mayuzumi included) haven't had much screen time (or page time), their personalities are not very clear to me yet, so...yeah.

And last but not least, I know the prologue is extremely short and Asahi's character is still very one-dimensional, but we'll get to see more and more starting the next chapter (though the summary tells a lot about her personality, LOL).


	2. Chapter 1

**Title:** Dawn of the Red King - Chapter 1  
**Genre:** Romance, Humor, (a bit) Drama.  
**Pairings: **Akashi Seijuurou x OC  
**Summary:  
**- The Red King finally meets his match.  
"You broke my friend's heart. And now, as a revenge, she wants to break yours by sending me in to seduce you." She looked at him right in the eyes. "I'm not trying to be rude, but that will never happen." Instead of being insulted like he had expected, the girl gave him a bright smile and two thumbs up. "That's why _my_ plan will work great!"

**Warnings:  
**1) Hi, Nice to meet you all. I'm LugiaTsuyu. I was from Thailand. So English is not my first language. That's why you will probably find a lot of grammar mistakes and not so smooth writing (such as repeated words and so on). And any comments, criticisms, corrections, and suggestions are greatly appreciated.  
2) I am writing this as I go, so yeah. LOL  
3) Also, you will probably find a lot of OOCness and mistakes because I don't really know much about basketball rules yet and am not really sure how high school in Japan works (especially an elite school like Rakuzan LOL), so I will apologize about that in advance. Please bear with me and I hope you will like my story. (Even though I am turning a sport shounen manga/anime into a romantic comedy shoujo one.)**  
**

**Disclaimers:** I do not own Kuroko no Basket, just my original character(s), as it belongs to Fujimaki Tadatoshi-sensei.

**Credit to:** Fujimaki Tadatoshi-sensei.

~o~

* * *

~o~

**Dawn of the Crimson King  
Chapter 1: Nice to meet you. I'm here to seduce you.**

~o~

"Ah, you sure you want me to do this, Karen?" Forget the _-chan_. Asahi, in her simple, anime patterned pajamas, spoke into her dinosaur-period-old cellphone while rolling her eyes at the ceiling above the small bed she was currently sitting on.

"Of course! You have to help me, Asahi-chan. I've never been embarrassed like that in my entire life!"

_But you were the one who had chosen to confess to the Emperor_—a name Asahi had often used when referring to Akashi Seijuurou in her mind—_in front of almost the entire student body. During lunch time, in the cafeteria. In a super _loud_ voice._

And when Akashi Seijuurou had said, "Who are you?" right after the confession, followed by the "I'm sorry, I have no interest for such things," then simply got up, grabbed his tray of food, and walked away with the other second-years, Karen's face had turned from white, to green, and ended with furious red.

Understandable, really. Because while there had been many who had felt sympathy and pity for her, many more—girls, especially—had been laughing and snickering at her, one had even shouted, 'You deserved it!'

Girls were scary, period.

But, to the heart-broken—though Asahi actually thought it was more like face-broken, if such phrase existed—Hatsuki Karen, everything was Akashi Seijuurou's fault, and revenge was in order.

Revenge that didn't involve the victim, but the said victim's not-so-close friend.

Karen had proposed the plan a day after the Emperor had coldly rejected her.

'Not interest in such things! Such things! I'll teach him!' Asahi winced at the ear piercing rant from the always soft-spoken, princessy Karen.

'Er…how?' A question that Asahi immediately wished she had kept to herself. Because Karen spun her head so fast and took Asahi's hands in hers.

'You'll have to help me, Asahi-chan.'

'Hah?'

'You have to make him fall for you, and then crush his black heart like a bug when he does!'

Wait…what?

'Me? Why me? I thought you said _you_'ll teach him.'

Karen smiled. A smile that reminded Asahi why she'd never consider this girl her friend. A smile of a user, of one who looked down on others. 'You are the only one I can count on. And because you are good at getting along with boys.' Sweet words, but the venom was there.

Normally Asahi would have said something to that, but she was tired of the drama—girls drama. Last two years of middle school was enough, really. She didn't want to start one in high school only after a month. She had other things to worry about.

And she had her own plan, would handle things in her own ways.

'All right.' Asahi sighed. A little part of her hoped Karen would change her mind when the time came.

A week had passed since then, and Hatsuki Karen remained forever fixed on revenge.

"I asked around, and it seems the first-strings assistant manager position is open right now." Karen's voice continued to pass through the phone.

"O…kay." Another rolled of eyes.

"I already sent in your application, and a senpai who's the current manager said there shouldn't be any problem because, apparently, you're the only one who applied."

"Apparently."

Karen had the nerves to giggle.

Asahi felt something pricking the back of her nape. A strong hunch. "What's wrong with being the assistant manager? Why does nobody else want to do it? I thought with Akashi Seijuurou in the club, there'd be girls lining up for the chance to get a closer look."

"From what I heard, even though the manager is the one who usually attends big games and handles a lot of stuff—that's why he needs help—it's the assistant manager that deals with supporting the first string players. Cleaning their locker room, wash their uniforms, go buy them snacks."

"Mmm-hmm. The normal manager stuff. And?"

"Well, since last year, you must have heard about the Uncrowned Kings, right?" And without waiting for an answer, Karen continued. "They joined the club. Hanami-senpai and Kimiko-senpai, they were the assistant managers last year, told me those three are like the spawns of Satan. That's why they, along with two other assistants, quitted the club. And also they had to maintain their academic status, said the amount of club work affected their grades some." Rakuzan High was not only famous in the best high school basketball team, but education area as well.

For Asahi, she didn't really care about whatever reasons those senpais had quitted but the last. "Karen, you know my situation, and after you heard all that, you still want to ask me to do this?"

"Yes." No hesitation.

"That's cold. Really cold." Asahi said bluntly, half joking and half serious.

The reply she got was even colder. "Thank you for helping me out, Asahi-chan."

~o~

Sometimes fate liked to play with you in a cruel but funny way.

After she'd ended the call with Hatsuki Karen, her mother, who had just got home from work and found out that her favorite ice cream were no longer available in the fridge for late night supper, had asked Asahi to go buy them a million more—four was the most they could afford at the moment, though.

The closest store which had her mother's particular flavor sold it at the price that could rip her wallet to a piece of nothing, so Asahi had decided to travel a little further to a minimart near Rakuzan High, which offered the buy one get one free promotion.

And ran into Akashi Seijuurou. Literally.

"I'm sorry." He said in that calm and collected tone.

"No, it's my bad. I was in a hurry. Didn't look where I was going" She hoped she didn't sound wary.

He was taller than her—because she was a barely five-foot-one leprechaun. Although, if compared to his teammates, who were now walking toward them from the other side of the store, he could be considered a bit short.

All five of them were still in school uniform, so she assumed they had just finished practice—it's almost eight at night, these guys sure practice hard—and were on their way home.

"Please be careful so you don't get hurt."

Her head snapped up. His eyes were still that passive, indifferent red and gold, but his words were not. It was polite, yeah, and a bit…nice?

That settled it.

She took a deep breath. "Akashi Seijuurou-kun?"

At his deadpan face, she let out a long sigh. "I really need to talk to you."

"Another love confession, Sei-chan?" A guy with almost a girly face—she's totally jealous of that long, beautiful eyelashes—stepped to stand next to the Emperor's right side. The other three remained just a few steps back.

"Don't worry. It's not a love confession. It's still a confession, though." Asahi scratched the top of her head. "Of sorts. I think."

Akashi's eyes narrowed dangerously. "What is it?"

Asahi looked around, noticed few other students in the minimart. "This will only take five—I'll be honest and go with twelve for the sake of it. The diner next door should be safer."

She half expected him to just ignore her, but two minutes later she found herself sitting across from him in a family diner, with his teammates scattered around the table.

"Please state your business. I have many things do to." He started.

Might as well. "You guys may not—probably don't—know me, because, really, I'm not the one with the balls." At their stares—attempted humor: failed—she cleared her throat. "Anyway. My name is Suzuno Asahi. Nice to meet you." She put her chin on the palms of her hands. "And I'm here with a mission to seduce you, Akashi Seijuurou-kun."

A moment of silence. Then the boy with orange blonde hair burst out laughing.

The temperature suddenly dropped to spine-shivering degree, and the laughing boy quickly swallowed another bout of chuckle.

"Do not waste my time with this kind of nonsense again."

Like he had done with Hatsuki Karen, Akashi simply stood up and was about to leave when the girl spoke evenly. "You owe me, you know?"

"Pardon me?" His brow quirked a bit. No one, especially girls, had ever dared to speak to him in such a way. He had only to look at them to put them in their place. But since they had bumped into each other a few minutes ago, this girl had yet to show her fear of him, just a wariness of the situation. His curiosity, and boredom—the elements in which came with his never-ending victory—had compelled him to find out what it was the girl wanted.

"On the opening ceremony. I wished you all the luck. It seemed like you needed it with all those girls squealing their lungs out over you. And now, because of my stupid generosity, I'm totally out of luck myself and completely stuck in this, this…idiotic…" Asahi theatrically swept the corner of her eye as if wiping away the tears.

"Mission?" The beautiful one offered helpfully.

Asahi reached across the table and grabbed his hand. "Yes!" Then pulled hers back.

"Wait. I'm completely lost. What's going on again?" The huge, super ripped guy with milk chocolate skin tone, who had been eating—whoa, was that his forth burger?—this whole time, put in.

"Yes. Please explain." Akashi remained on his feet, but his attention was now back on the girl.

Asahi grinned. "You know, you have this way of saying 'please' that sounds like 'I'll kill you if you don't'. Very effective." Her smile grew wider. "Well then, before my twelve minutes is up, I'll just summarize the whole thing." She touched a hand to her throat and cleared it.

"You broke my friend's heart. And now, as a revenge, she wants to break yours by sending me in to seduce you."

She looked at him right in the eyes.

Normally Akashi would punish whoever with such behavior toward him. But from her, there was no challenge, no disrespect. It was just pure honesty, her way of showing him she was telling the truth.

So he'd let it go. At least this once.

"I'm not trying to be rude, but that will never happen."

Instead of being insulted like he had expected, the girl gave him a bright smile and two thumbs up. "That's why my plan will work great!"

"Your plan?" The beautiful one—Okay, she'd had enough.

"I told you my name, and I already know Akashi Seijuurou-kun. What about you, Senpais?"

"Ah, sorry. Where're my manners. I'm Mibuchi Reo. You can call me Reo-nee." He winked.

"And I'm Kotarou! Hayama Kotarou!" The orange haired guy answered enthusiastically.

"Name's Nebuya Eikichi." And he went back to his seventh beef burger.

…

"What about you, Senpai?" Asahi asked the fifth guy who had been quiet and deep in his reading this whole time.

Everyone's reaction to her question was almost comical. The said senpai's head whipped up so fast she was afraid his neck might snapped. Reo-nee's, Kotarou-senpai's, and Eikichi-senpai's mouths were hanging open so wide birds could build a nest there. Even the Emperor seemed a bit surprised.

"Have I said something?"

"You noticed Mayuzumi? Since when?" Kotarou pointed his finger at his still quiet—but teeny, tiny bit annoyed now—teammate's direction.

"Ummm, since the beginning? I actually saw him at the store before I bumped into the Emperor." When Akashi narrowed his eyes dangerously—again—at her, she beamed. "Come on, I know you must like it. It sounds powerful and catchy. Plus, saying Akashi Seijuurou-kun all the time is really tiring, and it prolongs whatever needs to be said."

"Which you are doing now." Akashi pointed out.

"Which proved my point, exactly." Asahi countered with a salute.

While the two were having their rather…strange exchange, the other four at the table found themselves amused—mildly, in case of Mayuzumi, who didn't really care much about other people's business.

For the first time in his life, Akashi Seijuurou was having a difficult time handling someone.

"Please continued your explanation. Your twelve minutes will be over soon."

"Ooooh, that 'please', it's freezing my internal organs. Anyway." Asahi turned to Mayuzumi. "So you are Mayuzumi-senpai. Mayuzumi…what?"

"Chihiro."

"Okay! Now that I know you all a bit more, things should be pretty easy from here." She glanced at her watch. "Aww, my twelve is up." She got up, waved goodbye to someone at the cashier, then turned back to the group, clapped her hands once. "All right. I'll see you guys tomorrow after school then! Have a good night!"

She started for the exit, paused when she opened the door. "Good luck with whatever things you have to do, Emperor!" With a wide smile, she gave him big waves of hands, and rushed out.

A few seconds of quiet, then Kotarou could no longer control himself and whistled.

"After school?" Reo asked no one in particular.

Eikichi grunted and ate the last piece of his tenth burger.

Mayizumi went back to his light novel, but his attention was not completely on it anymore.

"Still, it's rare for someone to notice Mayuzumi's presence." Eikichi gulped down his soda. "Or maybe his lack of presence is not that impressive."

"No." Akashi said before Mayuzumi could strike back at Eikichi.

Whatever his teammates would have said or asked, none of them let out a word when they saw Akashi's face.

It was the face of a predator.

Akashi had to admit, at least to himself, he had been thrown back by Suzuno Asahi. No matter how cold his eyes had gotten, how sharp his voice had sounded, she had not registered even a hint of fear. He did not like that...Yes. He did not like that one bit.

He was Akashi Seijuurou. He was absolute. Since he always won, he's always right.

Tomorrow after school, hah?

He'd teach her to know her place.

He'd teach her who Akashi Seijuurou really was.

Suzuno Asahi, you should know your place!

~o~

* * *

~o~

**Author's Note:** Hello again, guys! How are you? Thanksgiving and Black Friday is coming up, so take really good care of your wallets!

As usual, grammar is horrible, vocabulary sucks, but please bear with me. I'll try my best to improve.

Soooooo. How's Chapter 1? I hope you guys like it! Asahi's character is a bit more obvious (though I'm still holding back her appearance, it should be revealed in the next chapter...I hope. LOL) As for the other Rakuzan players, I have to say once the manga revealed more about them (especially how the Uncrowned Kings call Mayuzumi), I will probably change couple of things that are already published, but for now all of them called him Mayuzumi except Akashi.

And talk about Akashi, I don't know how I can apologize to you for the all of his OOCness in this chapter. All of the characters', really (though, luckily, Asahi and Karen are my OCs, so I don't have to stress over them...much).

Anyhow, please comment and feel free to criticize, suggest, and correct any mistakes you guys noticed! I'll really appreciate it! As for now, have a great week, everyone!


	3. Chapter 2

**Title:** Dawn of the Red King - Chapter 2  
**Genre:** Romance, Humor, (a bit) Drama.  
**Pairings: **Akashi Seijuurou x OC  
**Summary:  
**- The Red King finally meets his match.  
"You broke my friend's heart. And now, as a revenge, she wants to break yours by sending me in to seduce you." She looked at him right in the eyes. "I'm not trying to be rude, but that will never happen." Instead of being insulted like he had expected, the girl gave him a bright smile and two thumbs up. "That's why _my_ plan will work great!"

**Warnings:  
**1) Hi, Nice to meet you all. I'm LugiaTsuyu. I was from Thailand. So English is not my first language. That's why you will probably find a lot of grammar mistakes and not so smooth writing (such as repeated words and so on). And any comments, criticisms, corrections, and suggestions are greatly appreciated.  
2) I am writing this as I go, so yeah. LOL  
3) Also, you will probably find a lot of OOCness and mistakes because I don't really know much about basketball rules yet and am not really sure how high school in Japan works (especially an elite school like Rakuzan LOL), so I will apologize about that in advance. Please bear with me and I hope you will like my story. (Even though I am turning a sport shounen manga/anime into a romantic comedy shoujo one.)**  
**

**Disclaimers:** I do not own Kuroko no Basket, just my original character(s), as it belongs to Fujimaki Tadatoshi-sensei.

**Credit to:** Fujimaki Tadatoshi-sensei.

~o~

* * *

~o~

**Dawn of the Red King  
Chapter 2: The Curse of the Infirmary**

~o~

"Morning, Mayu-senpai!"

It was rare for Mayuzumi to be greeted first by anyone—Akashi being the only exception. He had just closed his shoes locker when the ditzy girl from the night before appeared right next to him.

"It's Mayuzumi." He turned, started to step around her.

"Wait!" Asahi blocked his path, held up a finger in front of him while her other hand was busy fumbling around in her school bag for something.

"Here it is!" With satisfied excitement, she almost shove it at his face. "I saw you reading another book by the same author at the store. I wasn't sure if you had bought it or not, but this one is—supposedly—a prequel."

Mayuzumi took the small novel from her and studied it with a _Hmm_ while she continued, "You don't have to read them in order, I don't think. But if you didn't buy it yesterday, you can read this one first and see it you like it or not—this way you'll not have wasted your money."

"Thanks." His tone was so even, it was hard to tell if he meant it or not.

She didn't really care anyway.

"Tell me if you like it. I have a lot of those at home." And just like she had done last night, Asahi took a glance at her watch, looked up, gave a small salute. "I have to go. See you later, Mayu-senpai!" Then as quick as a tornado, she raced down the corridor and was gone.

"It's Mayuzumi." He muttered to himself, and sighed.

~o~

"You have to meet with Higuchi-senpai at three-thirty in the first gym." Karen went on, "After that, he'll show you around and go over your duties with you. Are you listening, Asahi-chan?" Temper flashed into her voice.

"Karen…chan. It's morning. Class hasn't even started yet. Why are you torturing me so early like this?" Asahi yawned, counting the steps she still had to walk to get to her classroom. Luckily, Karen's was a lot closer.

They both came to a stop at Karen's 1-3 Class slide doors.

"Asahi-chan," Karen reached down and grabbed Asahi's hands, squeezed. "This is very important to me. I was terribly hurt by Akashi Seijuurou—the man I'm still in love with." Karen confessed bravely, holding back the tears sparkling in her eyes. "Maybe that's why I can't forgive him. This love and hate, it's ripping me in two. I—" Her voice shook and she turned her face away.

Wow, Asahi thought. This girl was _good_. But…

"I said I'll do the assistant manager thing, Karen-chan. But you have to understand I'm not a puppet, I have to do things in my own way." _And you are not going to like it._

Karen took a deep, heroic breath, smiled courageously with watery eyes—at least the girl probably thought she pulled it off. "I understand. I'm truly grateful, really. I know I can count on you."

After they parted, Asahi's lips curved bitterly. She hated to play games with other people's feelings. But then, she hated being played even more. It hadn't take long for her to figure out what Hatsuki Karen really wanted from this.

And yet she'd agreed—or had made sure the other girl thought she'd agreed—to this ridiculous assignment.

And she didn't really know why.

Sure, she really didn't want to get caught up in another girly drama, but considering many girls from her old school were also attending Rakuzan High—three of them were even in the same class as her—it was pretty much inevitable.

She was proven right when her lunchbox was found at the bottom of a garbage bin in the classroom before lunch.

Those girls really should come up with new ideas, this type of thing was getting really old (not to mention a waste of the farmers' sweats and _her_ money). When Asahi suggested they do that out loud, none of them had the guts to look at her.

She was waiting in line to buy some bread from the school cafeteria, mulling over her own carelessness—but in her defense, she just didn't want to live with a mindset that she has to look over her shoulder all the time—when somebody slapped her back so hard she almost doubled over. "Hey, Chibi!"

She turned her head around and had to gaze up to see Eikichi standing behind her, his arms full of variety of breads, a huge grin plastereing on his face. "Afternoon, Nebu-senpai."

"Nebu?" Reo, who had appeared out of nowhere and holding his lunch tray, chuckled. Kotarou joined them a moment after. "How's your day going so far, Asahi-chan?" Reo added.

"It's been pretty interesting. I met Mayu-senpai this morning, and now the three of you." Asahi noticed that a lot of people were currently eyeing the Uncrowned Kings—some openly, others under the disguise of disinterest. It couldn't be helped, Asahi concluded. After all, they were Rakuzan's celebrities.

All of whom were laughing uncontrollably—Seriously, what had she said this time?

"_Mayu-senpai!_" Kotarou repeated. "It's so girly—that's rich! Mayuzumi must be totally annoyed, right?"

"Want to sit with us?" Reo invited after the laughter subsided, pointing his thumb at a table—one that Asahi vaguely remembered the Rakuzan basketball regulars always sat during lunch time.

"Er, not that I'm not honored you asked, Reo-neechan…but _why_?"

In a very friendly gesture, Kotarou threw his arm around her shoulder. "We are interested in you! It was fun watching you and Akashi yesterday."

"I'm always happy to entertain. And speaking of—where's Mayu-senpai and the Emperor?"

"I don't know about Mayuzumi, but Akashi has student council meeting." Eikichi said, already heading toward their table.

Right. The Emperor was not only the first-ever first-year to become a captain of the basketball team, but also the youngest student council president ever been elected in the long history of Rakuzan High School.

For that, Asahi had to admit, Akashi Seijuurou was beyond awesome.

When Kotarou, his arm still around her shoulder, tried to steer her along with him, she held back. "Wait, Senpai, I still need to buy—"

"_Aaand_ we are sold out!" The lunch lady shouted over the sea of the students' heads. Many of the unlucky ones muttered, groaned, and moaned in distress…Asahi being one of them.

After the four of them were seated—with Asahi looking a bit lifeless—Eikichi, sitting across from her with his month full, randomly picked up a dough out of the mountain of breads and handed it to her. "Here."

Asahi's gloomy face immediately brightened. "You're a lot nicer than you look, Nebu-senpai!"

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean? What do I look like to you?" He objected goodheartedly.

Asahi studied his face, tapped her finger to her chin, and beamed. "A muscled gorilla!"

Kotarou, occupying a seat on Eikichi's left side, burst out in another round of laughter. And Reo, on Asahi's right, turned his head away and was shanking visibly in an attempt to control his own chuckles.

Before Eikichi could let out another 'Hey!' Asahi hurried on, "It's a compliment, Senpai. I mean, I don't really like monkeys, truth be told. Especially chimpanzees—they look like perverted old men to me and—"

"I'm not really hearing the compliment part." Food forgotten for the moment, Eikichi said through gritted teeth.

Asahi ignored it. "But gorillas? I love them. They are really, really cool. Like kings of the apes, you know. So majestic and strong."

"Nice safe, Chibi." Eikichi pointed at her with his bread, but his lips was curving proudly. "You're right, gorillas are cool. And I_ am_ strong. You can keep the bread."

Asahi smiled and inclined her head. "Thank you, sir."

She tore the wrap open, closed her eyes in indulgence and made a sound of happiness in her throat after the first bite. "Wow. Oh wow. Remind me to tell you you're my hero later."

But for now, she dug out a five-hundred yen coin from her pocket—only to get it pushed back by Reo. "Don't worry about it, Asahi-chan. It's his fault the breads were sold out this quick anyway. And can you please swallow before stuffing another one in your mouth! It's disgusting!"

Eikichi completely ignored Reo's scold and ate his fourth bread whole.

"You're not eating, Hayama-senpai?" She asked when she saw empty space on the table in front of him.

"Eeeh~ Why am I the only one without a nickname?" He pouted.

Asahi laughed. "Sorry. How about Kota-senpai?"

He grinned. "I like it. I skipped fourth period and already ate. Oh, oh, did you know there's this place—"

"Asahi-chan?" A soft, confused voice interrupted him.

And there Hatsuki Karen was, standing with her glossed lips pursed and her doll-like eyes puzzled.

Asahi managed to swallow the last piece of bread—and a sigh. "Hey, Karen-chan."

Karen avoided looking at the Uncrowned Kings. "Um, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Remembrance flashed across Kotarou's face. "Ah! It's her. She's the girl Akashi—"

"Kota-senpai," Asahi said as rose to her feet, "Reo-neechan, Nebu-senpai, I'll see you all after school. And again, thank you for the bread, Nebu-senpai."

~o~

"Ahhh Ah~ We didn't get to ask her what we want to know at all." Kotarou complained after the two girls walked away.

"Akashi is not the only one having trouble dealing with her after all." Reo observed.

"Didn't Chibi say she'll see us later? We can just ask her then."

"I don't know if I like her yet. A little more time and I think it'll be hard for me not to—she sure is amusing. But…" Kotarou trailed off with a thoughtful frown.

"But?" Reo and Eikichi asked in unison.

"You saw Akashi's face yesterday, Reo-nee." Kotarou stared at the direction Asahi had left with her friend. "Poor girl," was what he said, but his eyes were sparkling with anticipation.

Reo took a small sip from his cup of soda. "Poor Sei-chan, too."

Kotarou tilted his head. "What makes you say that, Reo-nee?"

Reo's lips lifted into a secretive smile. "Intuition."

~o~

"What were you doing with them, Asahi-chan?" Karen began when they were alone in the less populated school quad. Her pretty face flushing with embarrassment and anger.

"Er, we were eating? Well, except Kota-senpai, he skipped fourth—"

"Kota-senpai? _Kota-senpaiI_? When did you have the chance to get all chummy with them?"

"Last night." Asahi shrugged. "I met them at the convenience store a block from here, they—"

"And you didn't tell me?"

"I don't see why I—"

"Was Akashi-kun there, too?"

If this girl interrupted her one more time. "Yes."

Karen inhaled sharply—one of those drama queen type of gasp. "You weren't supposed to meet him until later today! You're ruining everything!"

Okay. This was getting too ridiculous. "Look, Karen, I'm sorry to tell you this, but I won't do it."

Another gasp, this time a lot more exaggerated. "How could you, Asahi-chan? After all my family has done for your mother!"

Asahi gave a humorless laugh. It was what had gotten her into this mess in the first place. The feeling of being indebted to the Hatsuki family. "I'm grateful that your mother helped my mom get a job, I really do. And Hatsuki-san is a great woman. And if you want me to help you with your cleaning duty while you go karaoke or shopping or whatever? Hey, I'm your girl. But to use me to get even with a guy who broke your heart because he doesn't know you? Sorry, but I can't do it."

"And while I'm being really truthful with you here, I might as well tell you that I already told Akashi Seijuurou about your plan."

Karen was gaping in disbelief now. "You—"

"It was really wrong of me to mislead you into thinking that I would help you and then went behind your back like that, but Akashi Seijuurou didn't deserve what you thought he did. He was too cold, yeah. He could have turned you down a bit gentler, I totally agree. But that's just who he is. If you really love him, you should have seen—"

And Asahi had seen it coming, but didn't do anything to stop it, Karen's palm connected with her cheek so hard a crack could probably be heard across the courtyard. "You'll regret this, you bitch!"

"That's enough."

His voice wasn't even that loud, but the sheer power, the commanding tone of it stopped Karen short before she could attempt another attack.

"A-Akashi-kun." Karen's face went dead white.

"If you continue this, I will have no choice but report it to the teachers, and you will be suspended."

"I—I didn't mean to…I was—" Karen's voice was quivering, her hands trembling.

But Akashi no long paid any attention to the almond-haired girl. "Suzuno Asahi."

"Ah…yes?" Asahi didn't miss a spark of fury that suddenly flashed into Karen's tears-filled eyes.

"Come with me." Akashi ordered. And as one who was used to people following his commands, he turned around and started walking away.

"Um, I don't think—"

"Don't make me repeat myself, Suzuno Asahi." He said over his shoulder.

Asahi risked one last glimpse at the other girl…

Ooooh, that fury had turned into an all-out rage.

_Goodbye, my peaceful high school days._

~o~

"You ever wonder why the school nurses are never in the infirmary when you needed them?" Asahi asked when she settled down on the leathery couch, watching Akashi open a cabinet and take a little white cloth out of it.

"This is their lunch time, too. In case you haven't noticed." He replied without sparing her a glance, then walked over to the freezer and began to fill the cloth with ice.

"Aw, you're so serious. I was referring to shoujo manga, actually. The school nurse is always absent when the main characters are here. I think it gives them opportunities to get all lovey-dovey."

"Hm," was all he said.

When he was done, he neatly tied the corners of the cloth together and crossed to her. "Here. Use it on your cheek."

She accepted the iced cloth, beamed. "You guys really are nice. Nebu-senpai just gave me some of his lunch, too." She winced a little when she pressed it to her burning cheek. "Ouch."

"Why didn't you dodge?"

"Hmm?"

"Why did you let her slap you?" He'd seen the awareness on her face, had seen her control her instinct to react and just let the impact land.

"You are a really sharp guy, Emperor. Wait," Asahi squinted. "Were you eavesdropping?"

His eyes flashed dangerously. "You will learn not to speak to me that way, Suzuno Asahi."

Not affected in the least, Asahi grinned. "I'll take that as a yes."

With a glower, he put his hands on the top of the couch, a few inches away from either side of her head, blocking her in, and domineeringly loomed over her. "You should know your place. If you oppose me, I'll kill you."

He let the threat hang in heavy silence.

But her reaction was beyond anything he'd have expected—she smiled and touched her free hand softly to his cheek. "No, you won't." With such certainty in her voice, she gazed directly into his bi-colored eyes. "And I know you think you mean what you said. You are a very scary, very intimidating guy, Akashi." Then the glint in her eyes that was always there since he'd first met her darkened, even if her lips remained curving. "But I know what real evil is—and you're far from it."

For the first time in his life, Akashi was rendered speechless. He could only stare at her. This girl, there was nothing special about her; her face was too blend, her eyebrows too thin, her nose too small, and her lips was too pale to be called pink. Her hair was the worst of it all—it was ink black, few inches below her shoulders, wildly curly, and obviously lacked a proper styling.

But those eye...they were the clearest, lightest blue he'd ever seen—even more so than Tetsuya's.

A bit uncomfortable now, Asahi dropped her hand from his face and cleared her throat. "Now you are making me blush instead of scaring me to death, Emperor. I believe we just had an infirmary's lovey-dovey moment—their curse is too strong."

Akashi eased off without saying a word, but for a moment, Asahi thought she saw his lips twitch…

It was probably her imagination.

"What are you going to do now?" He asked suddenly.

Feeling a lot better, Asahi put the bundled ice cloth down on her legs. "About?"

"Your friend." He picked the thing off her laps and placed it in the nearby sink instead.

"Nothing. Rather than friend, I'd say she's more of a somebody I was forced to occasionally spend time with."

Leaning against the sink with his arms crossed, Akashi frowned slightly. "And you let somebody you had to occasionally spend time with slap you on a regular basis?"

She couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not, so she shrugged. "I let Karen slap me once because I deserved it. I shouldn't have agreed with her in the first place…and then went behind her back and told you about it. I had my reasons, but they still don't justify what I did." Then she grinned, slyly. "Now, if she'd gone for another blow, I'd have given it back twice as good—except I don't do girly slaps."

There was no mistaking it this time, the Emperor did smirk. "It seems I have deprived you of that chance then"

"I won't hold it against you if you won't hold what I'm about to ask from you against me." She got to her feet.

Akashi narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "What is it?"

She moved to rest her hip on the school nurse's table next to where he was standing. "Well, _my_ initial plan was to join the basketball club as an assistant manager and then, after a week or two, ended up being the one falling for you instead of the vice versa—that's where I thought the Senpais could help make it look more believable. Then Karen would have no choice but to give up on _her_ plan and have me stay far, far away from you. Because, really, her ultimate goal is not actually breaking your heart, but to mend it."

"Pardon?" He was a prodigy in all area. And he was absolute. Yet she managed to lose him somewhere in that last sentence.

"You are a total genius, Emperor," she reached over to pat his shoulder, "but girls are geniuses, too. In a way that you'll never understand."

She must have seen something on his face that demanded deeper explanation, for she continued, "Karen didn't say anything about it, other than admitting to me she's still in love with you. Hey, maybe you should give her a chance—"

The blades he shot out of his eyes had her threw her hands out in surrender. "—or maybe not. Anyway. It's not that hard to figure out her real intention if you know her. You damaged her pride, that's why she wants to get even with you by destroying yours right back. But she still really wants _you_. And that is why she'll use someone else to do the dirty part and then she'll be the—what's the girl version of the white knight in shining armor?" She lifted her shoulders. "Well, you get my point."

"This is ridiculous." And now he sounded like Shintarou.

"No argument from me."

Akashi sighed. There was nothing he could do—or should do, for that matter. Some problems you solved, for others, the best solution was to leave it alone. And, deliberately or not, Suzuno Asahi had saved him from a number of possible further annoyances. At least she had come straight with him rather than carrying out Hatsuki Karen's foolish idea. "What is it that you want from me now?"

Asahi pursed her lips. "Since things have turned out this way, I'm _really_ going need your help."

Akashi's scowl deepen after she was done explaining her situation.

~o~

* * *

~o~

**Author's Note:** Ha! How's that! You guys totally didn't see it coming, did ya! And so did I. I really didn't expect Asahi to just confess to Karen what she did behind her back, but Asahi—while very sneaky and ditzy—is a very, very honest person. Though this turn of events is making my summary sounds like a fraud…Oh, well.

Oh, if you're wondering (but probably not) how Akashi happened to be where Asahi and Karen are having their...let's call it discussion, I might actually write a short chapter about it in the future...emphasis on the _might_.

Sooooo, with this chapter, you get a little more info on Asahi's appearance, a tiny, little hint of why she's not really scared of Akashi, as well as the reasons she's agreed to Karen's plan in the first place (although there's one more reason Asahi is not even aware of it herself). And for those of you who are now afraid Asahi will turn into a damsel in distress because she's being bullied (and more to come in the future, I guarantee you)…have no fear. All you have to do is trust in Asahi's weirdness!...(And Akashi, I guess.)

And now onto my apologies. And in this chapter I have A LOT to apologize to you guys.

First off, I really have to apologize for the usual. My writing is not improving at all. And I feel this chapter has the worst descriptions and pace compared to the other two. It's all over the place and doesn't make any sense most of the time. The amount of repetitive words is ridiculous, too.

Second is the OOCness. Gosh, even my OCs seem OOC—what is that? The Uncrowned Kings are still very hard for me to grasp. But most importantly? I'm so sorry I destroyed Akashi's awesomeness. He was so OOC I don't even know how to apologize to you guys for that.

But despite all that, I sincerely hope you guys will continue to read and like Dawn of the Red King. I will try to improve myself and learn from all these mistakes. And if you would comment, criticize, suggest, or correct me, I will be forever grateful!

P.S. It sure is taking a long time for the 'see you all in the after school' LOL


	4. Chapter 3

**Title:** Dawn of the Red King - Chapter 3  
**Genre:** Romance, Humor, (a bit) Drama.  
**Pairings: **Akashi Seijuurou x OC  
**Summary:  
**- The Red King finally meets his match.  
"You broke my friend's heart. And now, as a revenge, she wants to break yours by sending me in to seduce you." She looked at him right in the eyes. "I'm not trying to be rude, but that will never happen." Instead of being insulted like he had expected, the girl gave him a bright smile and two thumbs up. "That's why _my_ plan will work great!"

**Warnings:  
**1) Hi, Nice to meet you all. I'm LugiaTsuyu. I was from Thailand. So English is not my first language. That's why you will probably find a lot of grammar mistakes and not so smooth writing (such as repeated words and so on). And any comments, criticisms, corrections, and suggestions are greatly appreciated.  
2) I am writing this as I go, so yeah. LOL  
3) Also, you will probably find a lot of OOCness and mistakes because I don't really know much about basketball rules yet and am not really sure how high school in Japan works (especially an elite school like Rakuzan LOL), so I will apologize about that in advance. Please bear with me and I hope you will like my story. (Even though I am turning a sport shounen manga/anime into a romantic comedy shoujo one.)**  
**

**Disclaimers:** I do not own Kuroko no Basket, just my original character(s), as it belongs to Fujimaki Tadatoshi-sensei.

**Credit to:** Fujimaki Tadatoshi-sensei.

~o~

* * *

~o~

**Dawn of the Red King  
Chapter 3: After School – Part 1 (Finally!)**

~o~

Even with the reputation of an elite high school, like any other, chaos still ensued all across Rakuzan High as soon as the bell signaled the end of day. Asahi watched her classmates gather their things and blast out the door as if their lives depended on it. Some, she knew, had after school club activities to attend, while the rest simply just wanted out of here. She herself used to be part of the latter.

But not anymore, she thought dejectedly. All because of a certain red-haired Akashi Seijuurou.

'I will offer you my help—but with one condition.' He glanced at her from the corner of his eye.

'Which is?'

'Shouta-senpai's told me there's only one applicant for our club's assistant manager, I assume that's you?'

'Actually it was Karen,' she corrected him. 'But she put my name on the form…so I guess that makes it me. Yeah.'

'Meet with Shouta-senpai today after class in front of the first gym.' He started for the infirmary's exit, paused when he was half way out the door, and darkly smirked at her over his shoulder. 'We will be counting on you, Ms. Assistant Manager.'

And at the time she could only, very stupidly, gape after his disappearing back.

Oh well. Fair was fair, she concluded.

When she arrived in front of the first gym, it was empty. Maybe she was a bit early, Asahi mused, and resting her back against the wall, began to wait.

Not too far away, the soccer club members were prepping and stretching for practice. It was strange, Asahi smiled bitterly, how she could still tell _him_ apart from the crowd even at such a distance. His dark brown hair looked a bit longer now, and he had grown at least four inches taller. But everything else about him seemed to remain the same. And Karen had told her he was now the star of Rakuzan's soccer team despite being the first-year. She couldn't think of anybody who deserved it more. He had always worked harder than anyone when it came to soccer.

But when it came to their friendship, she didn't know what had happened to them.

With a heavy heart, Asahi averted her eyes away.

On the left was the baseball field with a few students setting up the plates and smoothing the sandy ground. She noticed that one of them was favoring his left side—probably hurt himself in their last game—and was forced to a simpler duty of cleaning the benches. The other side, the furthest from where she was standing, belonged to the track team, but any of them had yet to show.

"A-sa-hi-chan~" Someone suddenly popped out of nowhere and whispered in her ear.

Before that person could even finish, Asahi yelped "Holy dancing ponies!" as she leapt back almost lightning fast. And when she saw who it was, she let out a shock "Reo-neechan!" and rubbed at her ear protectively.

Reo was trying his best not to let his laughter escape, but he could feel it struggling hard to break free.

Asahi narrowed her eyes when she saw his face turning all shades of red from the suppressed laughter. "If you want to laugh that much, Reo-neechan, go right ahead. Though then I'll probably be compelled to…I don't know what yet, but I'll do something to get back at you."

That did it. Reo burst out laughing until his sides hurt.

"Feeling better?" Asahi asked with a grin of her own when he finally drained down to chuckling.

"Much. Your reaction was just too funny. Holy dancing ponies?"

"Dancing ponies are cute to picture. They always calmed me…I think."

"First gorillas, and now ponies. Your mind is an animal land, Asahi-chan." He smiled.

"It's a very happy place." Asahi said brightly as she tapped her temple lightly with her index finger.

Another laugh from Reo. "I'm sure it is."

"By the way, Reo-neechan, where's everybody?" She inquired.

"They're around. Kotarou and Eikichi both have cleaning duty, they'll be here soon. Akashi has another student council meeting until about four, I believe. Which reminds me, he asked me to tell you Higuchi is probably going to be a bit late."

"Oh. Then maybe I'll be back la—"

"Watch out!"

Asahi heard a familiar voice shouted from some distance away. Reo immediately grabbed her wrist and pulled her away from the path of a soccer ball heading toward them with extreme speed. It hit the wall and bounced off only a few inches from where she'd been leaning on.

"You okay, Asahi-chan?" Reo asked as he let go of her wrist.

"Yeah." Asahi inhaled deeply to calm her drumming heartbeats. Ponies. Think of dancing ponies. "What about you, Reo-neechan?"

"I'm good." Reo watched silently as a first-year boy—he could vaguely recall his name was Kasugi Takuya—jogged up to a stop in front of them, his face troubled with guilt.

"Man. Oh, man. I'm so, so sorry. I should have…" The boy trailed off when his gaze landed on Asahi.

"Hey, Takuya." Asahi tried a small wave of hand, and knew the smile on her face was forced.

She also realized that her earlier thought about him staying the same was wrong. His brown eyes used to be so bright, so full of life, but now they were…less somehow. At least right this moment when he was eyeing everywhere and everything but her.

"Hey, Asa…Suzuno. Sorry about the ball. I should have caught it." Takuya scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "I, ah, gotta get back to practice. Sorry again." Without looking at her, Takuya managed to give her and Reo a repentant bow. Then he walked to where the problematic ball lay on the ground, kicked it with enough force to send it flying back to the field, and followed suit in a run.

Seconds of complete silence—that was if one didn't count the sounds of all the goings-on around them—when Reo finally decided to break it. "What was that about, Asahi-chan?"

Asahi thought about pretending not to know what he was talking about, decided against it as what would be the point. "He's my—was—my best friend."

Reo lifted his brow. "What happened?"

Asahi shrugged, a humorless smile curving her lips. "I'd like to know that, too." She bent down to pick up the schoolbag she'd dropped. "One day he just…stopped being my best friend." When she straightened again, she was back to her cheery self. Or hoped that she was.

"Were you…in love with him?" It was a delicate question, but curiosity won.

However, this time Asahi was genuinely amused. "I thought about it once. But I never get the whole butterflies in the stomach thing with Takuya. To me he was…family."

Which only made it worse, Reo thought.

"Anyway." Asahi clapped her hands together. "I'll get out of your way."

Reo placed his long, slim index finger on his lower lip. "Why don't you just come in and wait in the gym with me?"

Asahi paused and raised her eyebrows. "Are you sure it's okay? I heard unless there's a game, no outsider is allowed to enter the gym when you guys are practicing. Something about the whole," she twirled her hand in the air, "disruptions caused by the Emperor's fangirls?"

"Ah. That." Reo frowned with a hint of disdain. "It wasn't disrupting as much as annoying. They were really loud, and I don't like loud noises. Sei-chan handled it. He just told them to get lost—in that very polite way of his. Still, Coach thought we should have some precautions." Then he waved it away. "But you're not an outsider, Asahi-chan, you're our new assistant manager."

Asahi blinked. "Oh. Ha ha. Right. Yay…" The last part came out a little too unenthusiastic.

Unable to resist, Reo smiled and patted the girl's head. "I hope you'll last, Asahi-chan." Then he slid open the gym's door and led her inside.

More than mildly confused, Asahi went in after him.

~o~

"Here's the laundry room." Higuchi Shouta, a second-year manager of Rakuzan High basketball club—who'd appeared a minute after Asahi and Reo had entered the gym—pointed out.

"Hence the washer"—an enormous one—"and the dryer, right?" Asahi joked sarcastically with an innocent smile.

When he only stared blankly back at her, she gave him a dry laugh and a thumbs-up. "This is a laundry room. Right. Got it."

"We have the dryer, yes, but please don't use it unless it's raining."

This time she smartly kept her mouth shut and just nodded.

"And here," he walked over to the door that led to a small yard behind the gym, opened it, "is where you hang the washed clothes and towels to dry."

"Unless it's raining, right?" It slipped out before she could stop it.

Though he didn't say anything out loud, his eyes did plenty, and the gist of it was, '_Are you taking this seriously?_'

Asahi cleared her throat. "Yes. Please continue."

He sighed, stepped through a doorless opening on the other side of the room, silently motioning her to follow.

"This is the kitchen, or the break room. You _have_ to make sure to stock the fridge—or Nebuya will make your life a living hell. And I'm not joking."

Yeah, she was starting to think Higuchi Shouta didn't have a single funny bone in his body. "What should I put in there?"

He made a quick _hm_ in his throat. "That's a good question. Nebuya will eat just about everything, but his favorite is meat, and _lots_ of it—claims that's how he gets his energy. Hayama likes anything sweet." He squeezed his chin with his fingers. "Mibuchi is a little tricky. You'll have to figure it out yourself, 'cause I can't really explain it. The other first strings are a lot easier to deal with."

"What about the Emperor?" At the question marks in his eyes, Asahi repeated, "I mean, what about Akashi?"

Higuchi's face just suddenly lit up with admiration. "As long as you have some drinks and food or snacks in there, Akashi will never complain. He appreciates what we do, you know."

_The Emperor's got himself a fanboy right here._ Asahi grinned.

Next he took her to the gym showers. And boy, Rakuzan High really outdid itself there. Instead of an open bathing, there was a dozen of shower stalls with classy, ivory-colored ceramic tiles and opaque glass doors.

"Basically," he said when they walked out of the showers and into the changing area. He gestured his head toward a huge basket filled with mountain of clothes on the floor. "When the bell rings, the first place you need to be is either here…or the locker room." He shuddered, tried to hide it with a shrugged. "I'll show you that in a second. Those guys will know to leave anything they want to be washed or cleaned in this basket and the one we have in…the locker room." Again, another shudder, this time more obvious.

So when there were finally standing at the entrance to the Rakuzan basketball club's locker room, Asahi was a little nervous of the unknown.

"Here's the locker room." Higuchi slowly took a step back. "The laundry basket will be on your right when you open the door. The gym is down the hall to the left." One long step backward. "Well, I've got to go. The second strings manager called in sick, so…Good luck!" And just like that, he was gone.

_What was that?_ Asahi stood there, wide eyed, then she snapped herself together. _Only one way to find out._ She grabbed the doorknob, twisted it, took a deep breath, and pushed.

The first thing her brain registered was the dimness of the room, the only light a luminous ray of the sun piercing through a small window on one of the walls. The second thing was a strong scent of something unidentifiable, it was very stale and very unpleasant.

_So this must be it_, Asahi mused, her nervousness receding. She'd imagined the room was haunted with ghosts or something. But if it's just the smell—however much unfriendly to one's nose—she could handle it just fine. She'd had more than enough of experience with stinkier stuff.

Then her immediate next thought was how she couldn't imagine the Emperor and Reo-neechan tolerating this kind of thing. And since she sort of liked them—including Nebu-senpai and Kota-senpai—they wouldn't have to any longer.

With that in mind, Asahi gathered a big gulp of air into her lungs, rolled up the uniform's sleeves, and got to work.

~o~

"Sei-chan! How's the meeting?" Reo halted the basketball between his palms when he saw Akashi walk in the first gymnasium. And as usual, their captain was already in his practice attire.

"It went quite well." Akashi replied evenly as he scanned the gym. He was satisfied to see that all the club members were doing what they were supposed to.

"Oh, Asahi-chan is in the back." Reo started dribbling the ball absentmindedly. "And Higuchi just left." He picked up the ball, got into a shooting position, and tossed it into the air. The carrot-colored sphere flew high before it landed through the hoop with an audible sound.

"Hm," was all Akashi said.

"Do you think she'll be all right? I still tear up every time I open the locker room's door. In fact, I'm tearing up just thinking about it." Reo blinked rapidly to chase back the shimmering tears.

Akashi's face remained indifferent, but he couldn't deny what was. He himself avoided that locker room as much as possible. Fortunately for him, being the student council president at Rakuzan meant a private quarter next to the teacher's office—one he hadn't intended to use until he'd encountered the…inconvenience in the basketball club's locker room.

In certain situations, adjustments needed to be made.

"Um. Excuse me! Sorry to interrupt!"

All heads turned to the doors that connected the gym to the locker room.

Akashi saw Suzuno Asahi standing there with her arm raised and she was waving the three money bills in her hand.

"Outsider is not allowed in here, girly!" He heard one of his teammates, Tsugumu Kyouta, shouted with apparent cockiness.

"I'm a—"

"She's out new manager!" Kotarou excitedly ran to her and nudged her toward the center of the gym court.

"Assistant manager, actually." She corrected, then sidestepped just in time before Eikichi's palm could collide with her back.

"Hey," Eikichi greeted with a big grin. "I believe it's later, Chibi."

She laughed. "Nebu-senpai, you're my hero." She gave it a beat. "For today."

Eikichi chuckled just as she gave a huge wave and a smile to Chihiro, who stood—and preferred to stay—away from the crowd.

"Is there anything you need, Asahi-chan?" Reo asked.

"Oh, right! I was doing the laundry and—"

"What, you chipped your manicured nails?" Kyouta mocked.

It seemed he and Kyouta would need to have a little conversation over this, Akashi thought. But he then noticed a millisecond twitch of nerves around Suzuno Asahi's light blue eyes.

Maybe it would not be necessary after all.

Asahi, after putting the bills in her school blazer, was thinking of dancing ponies and singing puppies while she made her way to the brash guy. She'd never mind an honest remark, no matter how rude or hurtful it could be. And she might have let his scorn comment go if she hadn't been neck deep in things-that-shall-not-be-named—and she swore some of them had moved—in that locker room for the past thirty minutes. So when she came to a stop before him, she counted from one to five before offering him an overly bright smile. "Hello. I'm Suzuno Asahi, a first-year."

Flabbergasted, the guy stuttered a little. "T-Tsugumu Kyouta, second-year."

"Nice to meet you, Gumu-senpai!" Asahi said with the sweetness of a knife. "You know, that was a very insulting accusation—though I have to admit in some cases, you do have a pretty accurate observation—on the girl species."

And as he was a lot taller, she lifted her arms, made sure the back of her hands were in his line of sight, and wiggled her fingers in front of his face "See these, Senpai?" She paused a little for effect. "I assure you, they are naturally grown—and mostly neglected, too." She let her hands fall, shrugged. "But if I'm ever in need of a manicure," another sugary smile, "I'll be sure to ask where you got yours."

Eikichi and Koratou roared with laughter while Reo snickered and the others cheered and whistled. Even Akashi Seijuurou was smirking.

And before Kyouta, whose face was deep crimson from both embarrassment and anger, could give any retort, Asahi spun around and held up the money bills. "Do you guys know who this money belongs to?" She sent a pleading look to the team captain. "Please say you do."

Akashi sighed. "How and where did you find it?"

"When I was doing the laundry. Well, I'm still not done with the laundry, really. But you see, I was…I rushed here as soon as I found it." She hurried on when the Emperor's eyes narrowed. "I mean, do you know how tempting it was not to just stuff it in my own wallet? It's three-thousand yen! I can buy almost two of my mother's favorite ice cream."

"Suzuno Asahi."

At Akashi's firm tone, Asahi caught herself. "Sorry. Anyway, now that you guys know about the money, it's better for me because—And I'm still babbling. Okay." she took a deep, calming breath and closed her eyes to try to think back. "It fell out of this forest green shorts." She opened her eyelids. "It has this black marker stain on the right leg."

One of the boys reluctantly raised his hand. "Er, I'm pretty sure it's mine, but the stain should be on the left leg, not on the right."

"Ding, ding, ding!" Asahi formed a gun with her palms clasped together and aimed it at him. "We have our winner!" She said cheerfully and reached him in three strides. "Here's your money. Be more careful next time."

"Um, thanks."

"No problem. Well, I should get back to…cleaning." The last word was delivered in a quiet mutter.

"But first," Asahi jumped away from the middle of the court so that she could see most of the club members at once. Though they hid it well—except for Tsugumu Kyouta—she knew many of them were also skeptical about having her around. And she couldn't blame them, considering none of the girls had stuck around more than three months since the Uncrowned Generals had joined…and the things-that-shall-not-be-named in that locker room. "I know I seem really unreliable—and a lot of times I am. I can also be very weird. But," she bowed with fierce determination, "I will do my best as your assistant manager. Please take care of me."

When she straightened herself back up, they were all just staring at her. And Asahi did the one thing she'd always done in uncomfortable situation, she blurted out whatever that was on her mind, "Now, this is awkward."

Tsugumu Kyouta scoffed. "You don't say."

Reo jabbed him in the gut with his elbow. "It was just…unexpected." Then he smiled. "Please take care of me, too, Asahi-chan."

As if someone had slapped them to wakefulness, the others echoed the same. Eikichi ruffled her hair playfully in addition to his "Sure, Chibi!" and Kotarou gave her an enthused high five.

Then Akashi Seijuurou stepped forward, and all the commotions in the gym froze as if someone had turned off the time switch.

_King._

Asahi was once again reminded of the same thought when she'd first saw him. But unlike back then, he wasn't looking down at the sea of people below him from up on the stage. No. Akashi Seijuurou—the Emperor, the Red King—was now looking right at her with that soul piercing eyes of golden sun and red ruby.

And unlike back then, he was smiling.

It wasn't an energetic smile like Kota-senpai's. Not as open like Nebu-senpai's. And certainly not kind like Reo-neechan's. On second thought, it was more like a millimeter upward curve in the corners of his lips.

But that not-a-smile did something to her unlike any other. For a second, her stomach felt odd, fluttering somehow.

_What was that? Did I eat something wrong?_

Her train of thoughts was interrupted when Akashi softly spoke. "We will be counting on you, Asahi."

Another flickering in her stomach, only much stronger.

"That's the first time you called my name, Emperor!" Asahi beamed with excitement even as her mind was racing with concerns. _Really. Was it something I eat? I still have to finish all this cleaning! Was it the bread? Or maybe it's that instant noodle cup I had this morning._

But if she was coming down with food poisoning—and she'd had one too many—this time it was different. Her cheeks felt hot, but she didn't feel feverish. And the strangest thing was, her heart was beating all kinds of funny.

She wondered why?

~o~

* * *

~o~

**Author's Note: **My God! Two weeks! Two weeks! I'm soooooooooooooo sorry, guys! (If you are still here.) Man. I don't know what happened. Oh, wait. I do know. I suck!...Or more like my life sucks. The internet's been really weird at my house. And trust me, I really need it to write. Google Translator has become my God.

Anyway, here's chapter 3! And I know you must be really annoyed with this by now, but I can't not do it. I HAVE to apologize. I don't know how, but instead of improving, I feel like I'm deteriorating. I said last chapter's flow was bad? Hah! It doesn't come close to this chapter's all-over-the-place…ness. But I will not give up! I will continue to do my best. I just hope you guys will be patient with me and continue to read Dawn of the Red King…even with its bad writing/plot/characterization.

So…onto the story. In this chapter a few new characters are introduced. One of them will have a _huge_ impact on our two main characters later on. And talk about the two mains, I know Asahi has spent more time with the Uncrowned Kings than Akashi, but that's about to change…I hope in the next chapter or two. Well, if I were to term the released chapters so far, I'd call them as the setting-the-stage chapters…I guess.

And Akashi is finally calling her by her first name! Yay! Oh, on a totally unrelated note (kind of), I think I found another reason why Asahi is so chill around Akashi—she's got a split personality, too!...Not really…but I sure made her seem like it. LOL

Last but not least. As always, please, please, do not hesitate to criticize, suggest, and comment! Especially when you found any errors, please correct them! I'd really appreciate that! (Though I admit I can be stubborn and will question your corrections sometimes, but I'd still love for you to point out the mistakes so I can be aware of them.)

Thank you, thank you, thank you all of you for continuing to read Dawn of the Red King! I will see you again soon!


	5. Special Chapter 1

**Title:** Dawn of the Red King - Special Chapter 1  
**Genre:** Romance, Humor, (a bit) Drama.  
**Pairings: **Akashi Seijuurou x OC  
**Summary:  
**- The Red King finally meets his match.  
"You broke my friend's heart. And now, as a revenge, she wants to break yours by sending me in to seduce you." She looked at him right in the eyes. "I'm not trying to be rude, but that will never happen." Instead of being insulted like he had expected, the girl gave him a bright smile and two thumbs up. "That's why _my_ plan will work great!"

**Warnings:  
**1) Hi, Nice to meet you all. I'm LugiaTsuyu. I was from Thailand. So English is not my first language. That's why you will probably find a lot of grammar mistakes and not so smooth writing (such as repeated words and so on). And any comments, criticisms, corrections, and suggestions are greatly appreciated.  
2) I am writing this as I go, so yeah. LOL  
3) Also, you will probably find a lot of OOCness and mistakes because I don't really know much about basketball rules yet and am not really sure how high school in Japan works (especially an elite school like Rakuzan LOL), so I will apologize about that in advance. Please bear with me and I hope you will like my story. (Even though I am turning a sport shounen manga/anime into a romantic comedy shoujo one.)**  
**

**Disclaimers:** I do not own Kuroko no Basket, just my original character(s), as it belongs to Fujimaki Tadatoshi-sensei.

**Credit to:** Fujimaki Tadatoshi-sensei.

~o~

* * *

~o~

**Dawn of the Red King  
Special Chapter 1: Seven Years Ago and a Year from Now**

~o~

"This is a wonderful party, Seijuurou-san." Hanayuki Yuzuki, a daughter of one of his father's business partners, commented. She was the same age as him, petite, graceful, with long blonde hair and a feminine face. Her light brown eyes were filled with fascination as she openly observed the goings-on in the Akashi's Tokyo residence ballroom.

Akashi gave her a subtle nod. "Thank you. My father will be pleased."

"I heard you will be entering Rakuzan High School comes this spring." She started a topic of conversation.

"I have decided on it, yes." Akashi took a small sip from a flute glass in his hand. He didn't really care for the sour taste of apple juice in his month, so was this meaningless party his father had arranged and demanded for him to attend.

Even if this was his own birthday party.

No, that's not quite correct, Akashi mused. It was true that his birthday has just passed five days ago, but more than anything, this party hadn't been organized for him. His father had thought it an advantage that his birthday was only days before Christmas and the end of the year. Three occasions, one party. His father was, after all, a businessman.

Not that Akashi didn't think the same. There was no point in spending more resources than necessary for something so trivial such as birthdays—Or Christmas and New Year, for that matter. But parties, especially when those invited were Japan most successful men and women in their fields, provided great opportunities for the Akashi's businesses—arrangements could be discussed, agreements could be made, and contracts could be finalized.

That's right. It was all business. There had been no celebrations, no felicitations. Not from his father, nor from Akashi himself.

The only person who had ever found merriments from his birthday, from this time of year, had been long gone.

~o~

It was a bit after midnight when Akashi opened the door to his bedroom. The party had been a success for the Akashi family. They—mainly his father—had managed to secure more business partners for the future.

Akashi shrugged out of his black suit, laid it on the top of his desk chair, and pulled off his silky red tie. Though he would never admit it out loud, he was a little bit tired. Not physically, but emotionally.

He sat down on his bed and closed his eyes. No, he thought firmly. Akashi Seijuurou couldn't afford to have any weakness. He was absolute. He'd always win, therefore he was always right.

He had to be.

~o~

_"Happy Birthday, Sei-kun." His mother hugged him tightly and pressed her cheek on the top of his head. "How time flies," she leaned back, "you are already eight years old!"_

_ The little Akashi smiled. He loved his mother more than anyone in the world. To him, she's also the most beautiful woman on earth. Her long, red brown hair was always soft whenever he played with it. Her golden-colored eyes shined like there were stars in them. But what he loved the most was how a loving smile was always there on her gentle face whenever she looked at him._

_ She got to her feet, walked to an enormous Christmas tree in the far end of their living room, and picked up a medium-sized box wrapped in Christmas pattern paper surrounded by many other boxes of different scales—some, he knew, were fakes, his mother had put them there to prevent him from peeking. "This is your birthday present from me and your father."_

_ "Thank you, Mother!" He accepted the box from his mother. The manners his father had always taught him prevented Akashi from ripping off the gift wrap right then and there. Instead he asked, "Where's father?"_

_ His mother's adoring smile faltered. "He has some business to see to. But he promised to be back to celebrate Christmas and New Year with us."_

But his father hadn't come back until almost two weeks later, Akashi thought now.

His parents had had a huge fight after. It had been the first time he'd seen his mother raised her voice. She'd asked him what had been so important that he'd been unable to spare a little time for family, and his father's only response at the time had been quietness.

He didn't know if they'd argued or talked about this particular matter again, but what he'd noticed was they'd stopped talking. At least when they hadn't had to put on a show for others to see.

And then, on January 23th of that same year, his mother had fallen into the eternal sleep.

He'd been in here, alone in this very room, playing the Shogi board game which had been his birthday's gift from his parents, when one of the maids rushed in. She'd been crying, and for the first time, she gathered him in her arms and hugged him, just like the way his mother had done all the time.

"_I am so sorry, Seijuurou-sama. Your mother's been in…in a terrible accident. She—We need to take you to the hospital." She spoke through her sobs._

He didn't remember much after that. Everything had been a fog in his mind. The only memory he had about that night was he'd been sitting next to his mother's hospital bed, holding onto her hand.

His father hadn't shown. He'd been on another business trip.

"_Sei…kun." It was a broken whisper. He squeezed her hand._

"_Yes, Mother?" His voice, it sounded as if it belonged to someone else. Everything seemed strange to him, too. All the machines surrounding his mother, all the tubes and wires. And that beeping noise, even though the doctor had told him it's the sound of proof that his mother was still alive, her heart still beating, it was making him feel nauseating._

"_Can you…promise me something?"_

_He took a shivering breath. "Yes, Mother."_

_Her hand, more fragile now than it had been this morning when she'd ruffled his hair while cooking him his favorite tofu soup, slowly cupped his cheek. Her touch was light, but very, very cold. "Be strong for me. Be…strong…for yourself. Don't…don't lose to anyone." She closed her eyes, and tears were running down her cheeks. "Don't let anyone make you into a loser…Don't be...like your father." Her voice slurred at the end, and he couldn't catch her words._

"_Mother?" He sprang up to his feet when his mother's breathing slowed._

"_I love you, Sei-kun."_

"_Mother!"_

"_I love…you"_

_ The beeping noise stopped, but it turned into a long screeching sound._

_Akashi let go of his mother's hand, ran as fast as his two small legs could carry to the hallway, screaming for someone to help his mother._

_But it was too late._

_While he waited for his father to arrive, for his mother to be taken away, her last words were echoing in his mind._

_**I love you, Sei-kun.**_

_Be strong. __**Be strong**__. Don't lose to anyone. __**Don't lose**__._

_I love…you._

_**Don't lose.**_

_The days that followed was like hell for him. His father remained composed, taking care of business and his mother's funeral with stoic calmness. While Akashi himself felt as if the world had ended, all the warmth and colors had turned into dulling gray._

_ And when his mother was laid to rest in the earth ground, in that moment, his heart hurt so badly he was afraid something might burst out of his chest. _

_But through it all, he didn't shed a single tear._

~o~

Akashi opened his eyes, he hadn't thought of that day in a long time. Maybe the recent incident with Atsushi had triggered it. To remind him of the promise he'd made with his mother almost seven years ago.

She'd been right, he'd learned not long after. Winning was everything. A loser had no place in the Akashi family.

~o~

Akashi Seijuurou didn't know, or refused to acknowledge, the small part of him that longed for someone to tell him those simple words of 'Happy Birthday,' 'Merry Christmas,' and 'Happy New Year.' Someone to celebrate with him, celebrate _him_. To just _be _with him. Just like his mother had.

_Do you believe in Santa?_

This year he may not have a special gift for the captain of the Generation of Miracles, Akashi Seijuurou. But next year, Santa had already prepared to grant the boy his deepest wish. To give him _Asahi_, the morning sun, so his colorless world could be filled with brightness and warmth once again.

Santa could already see it, that future.

"_Happy Birthday, Emperor!"_

Yes, the morning sun smile on the girl's face would no doubt pierce through her Emperor's frozen heart.

Only a year from now.

~o~

* * *

~o~

**Author's Note:** Soooooooooooooo. How is it? Do you guys like it? And since it's Christmas, I'll try to restrain myself from annoying you guys and won't apologize too much. But as you know, my grammar and vocabulary and plot/characterization/flow haven't improved at all. So, there's that. And as always, please bear with me. I'll keep trying my best.

Now, I initially wanted to write a special chapter for Akashi-sama's birthday, but I got too lazy—I mean busy. I got too busy. And since Christmas is only five days after, I thought, why not just combined it all together? (Am I as bad as my version of Akashi's father O_O!?) It's a Christmas present for you readers as well (though I'm cutting it pretty close—and for some of you it's not even Christmas day anymore =_=').

This special chapter, just in case I sucked and wasn't totally clear in the description, is about a couple of months before Akashi attended Rakuzan High, so a couple of months before the beggining of Dawn of the Red King. But a lot of the elements in this chapter will play a crucial part in the main story as well.

I also have to give our fellow Kuroko no Basuke fan known as _Violinic_ an important credit. She (I assume she's a she) gave me more info on Akashi's home life on her website. So thank you so much, _Violinic_!

And last but not least. Comment! Review! Criticize! Suggest! Correct! I would really, really, really appreciate those! Thank you all in advance. I hope you will keep continuing to read Dawn of the Red King! See you again next chapter! (I promise it'll be longer than this one.)

**o~*MERRY CHRISTMAS*~o**


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